Gabriel Haikal

Developer 💻 & Business Law student ⚖️
Building in AI, software & digital regulation
Based in Austria 🇦🇹

[Gabriel Haikal @GabrielHaikal]

Market research for indie devs usually means guessing.

On Aisle someone types what they need into Match, nothing fits, and that sentence can become a public request devs can see and answer. Real demand, free.

What's the tool you've searched for three times and never found?

[Gabriel Haikal @GabrielHaikal]

"No EU office, so GDPR doesn't apply to us."

Article 3(2) says the opposite: it applies to anyone offering goods or services to people in the EU, paid or free. Euro prices, a German toggle, that's "offering".

Law student, not your lawyer. US devs: which side are you on?

[Gabriel Haikal @GabrielHaikal]

I'm a business law student in Vienna. I also run a software store with a small team. Weird combo, I know.

It's also the point. The rules that make devs skip Europe are the part I enjoy, so we built the store for those devs.

What old-life skill does your product live on?

[Gabriel Haikal @GabrielHaikal]

The AI launch post has a formula.

"Thrilled to announce." A demo where nothing goes wrong. "Trusted by 500+ teams" on a product that shipped Tuesday.

Mine said: 5 devs on the waitlist, I aimed for 100. Most real replies I ever got.

What launch cliché can't you fucking stand?

[Gabriel Haikal @GabrielHaikal]

Nobody tells you your store is confusing. They just leave.

Analytics show the leaving, never the why.

So I'm asking: open Aisle on your phone, give it 60 seconds, and tell me the first thing that made you go "huh?". Brutal is fine.

[Gabriel Haikal @GabrielHaikal]

80% of developers now use AI tools. Trust in their accuracy fell from 40% to 29%.

Stack Overflow's 2025 survey, 49,000 devs. Everyone uses it, nobody believes it.

If you sell an AI product, that gap is your competitor.

What's the last AI tool that told you what it can't do?

[Gabriel Haikal @GabrielHaikal]

One week of posting about Aisle every day. What it bought me:

36 followers, same as day one.
1 click on my bio link. One.
Best post: 124 views, about Steam, not Aisle.

People want my opinions, not my store yet. Fair.

Devs: what would make you list on a store you don't know?

[Gabriel Haikal @GabrielHaikal]

"The EU AI Act got delayed."

The high-risk rules did, to Dec 2027 and Aug 2028. The transparency rules have applied since Aug 2, 2026. If your app chats with people in the EU, that's probably you.

US devs: does your app say it's an AI?

[Gabriel Haikal @GabrielHaikal]

"Free tier" usually means a watermark and a nag screen.

On Aisle the first product is free and complete: checkout, SDK, reviews, launch page. You pay only to be seen, and paid spots are labeled.

What did the last "free tier" you tried actually leave out?

[Gabriel Haikal @GabrielHaikal]

Most AI tools I see are built in SF and sold to SF. Europe gets skipped: VAT, GDPR, 24 languages.

I'm building the store from Vienna, and Match answers in English and German.

US devs: what actually stopped you from selling to Europe?

[Gabriel Haikal @GabrielHaikal]

A good salesperson asks one question before recommending anything. A bad one asks twelve.

Aisle Match asks at most one, and only when two readings of your need would change the top pick: Mac or Windows, team or personal, EU hosting or not.

Did it ask you the wrong question?

[Gabriel Haikal @GabrielHaikal]

Would you buy an AI tool that won't tell you which model it runs on?

Every listing on Aisle has to say if it runs AI, which providers, and if your data goes to third parties. Hide it and you're not listed.

Too strict or bare minimum?

[Gabriel Haikal @GabrielHaikal]

Most stores hold your money for weeks and take a cut from your first sale.

On Aisle the buyer pays straight into your own Stripe. Aisle is never the seller, and the fee is 0% until €10,000 net a year.

How long does your platform sit on your money?

[Gabriel Haikal @GabrielHaikal]

Indie game devs get a Steam page, wishlists and a launch day.

AI app devs get a tweet and a fucking prayer.

Gamers who code: what should a store for AI tools steal from Steam?

[Gabriel Haikal @GabrielHaikal]

Most dev tools make you email support to get a refund. Then you wait.

On Aisle every product sold through the checkout has a 14-day refund, no questions asked. Keys, downloads and invoices stay in your library.

What's the longest you've waited for a refund on a dev tool?

[Gabriel Haikal @GabrielHaikal]

Most dev products don't die because the code is bad.

CB Insights went through 111 startup post-mortems. 35% named the same killer: no market need. In plain English, we built shit nobody asked for.

What did you build that nobody wanted?

[Gabriel Haikal @GabrielHaikal]

Listing a product on most stores means an hour of forms.

On Aisle you paste your product URL and the listing assistant drafts the rest. About five minutes, then you fix whatever it got wrong. First product is free.

Try it and tell me where it got your product wrong.

[Gabriel Haikal @GabrielHaikal]

"Turns my calls into notes" and "meeting transcription for sales teams" share zero words. Same need.

So Aisle Match embeds your sentence, runs keyword search next to it, drops sponsored listings, then picks up to 3 with a reason each.

Devs, what would you change?

[Gabriel Haikal @GabrielHaikal]

We put the whole ranking formula for Aisle on a public page.

40% quality, 30% engagement, 20% freshness, 10% referred traffic. Nobody can buy a better organic rank. Boosts are labeled "Sponsored" and never get into Match.

Have you ever trusted a "top rated" list?

[Gabriel Haikal @GabrielHaikal]

Every AI search I've seen this year is a chatbot. "Sure! Here are some great options 😊"

So for Aisle Match I killed the chat. One box, up to three cards, each says why it fits and what you give up.

Designers: is chat the right UI for finding stuff, or just the lazy default?